Facebook's Reels-first test lands in India

Some Facebook users in India now open the app and land straight in full-screen video, not a feed. Meta has confirmed it is testing a Reels-first interface there, the latest step in a years-long effort to push video to the center of its oldest product.

The test follows a plan first outlined in July by Facebook head Tom Alison, who described a more immersive, video-forward experience and said the company would test it in "video-heavy countries" outside the U.S. before considering the U.S.

What the test actually changes

Users included in the test see full-screen video immediately on opening the app, with Reels as the entry point rather than the traditional feed. Meta said those users can opt out and return to a Feed-first experience. The classic feed remains available as a second tab inside the Facebook app, so the news feed has not been removed.

The design is a reordering of priorities rather than a replacement. Facebook has spent years nudging video into more surfaces; this test pushes it all the way to the first screen a person sees, with the feed demoted to a tap away.

Alison's July plan, now executed

Alison's July description matches what is now being tested: a feed-free opening screen, tested first outside the U.S. in markets where video consumption is already heavy. He did not name India at the time. The company has said it will explore bringing the interface to the U.S. next year, leaving the door open to a broader rollout depending on results.

Meta has not said how many users are in the Indian test, how long it will run, or what metrics would determine whether it expands. Those details remain undisclosed.

Video has been the plan for a while

The test is not a sudden pivot. Last year, Meta said all new videos posted to Facebook would be shared as Reels, regardless of length or format, and it renamed the app's Video tab to "Reels."

Meta has previously said young adults spend about 60% of their time on Facebook watching videos. That figure has underpinned the company's argument that a video-first interface reflects how people already use the app, rather than forcing a new behavior on them.

India as the recurring testbed

India has served as a testing ground for Meta's short-form video efforts before. In 2020, Instagram began testing a dedicated Reels tab in the country, months after India banned TikTok, leaving a large short-video audience without its dominant app.

Last year, the company tested a Reels-first experience for some Instagram users in India and South Korea that similarly sent them directly into a video interface on opening the app. The current Facebook test applies the same logic to Meta's largest product by users.

India's scale and the numbers behind it

India is Facebook's largest market by users, with Meta's advertising tools indicating an audience of more than 400 million people in the country. That scale is why changes tested there matter disproportionately.

Meta-commissioned studies released in June found high daily video usage among Indian users. The company has described Reels as increasingly becoming India's "personal and primary screen."

• At least 97% of users surveyed in Meta-commissioned studies said they watch video on its platforms daily.
• 89% of Gen Z respondents said they use Reels every day.
• Meta's advertising tools indicate a Facebook audience of more than 400 million people in India.
• Young adults spend about 60% of their time on Facebook watching videos, per the company's earlier statement.

The opt-out, and why it matters

Meta's decision to let test participants switch back to a Feed-first experience is notable given how the company has handled similar changes in the past. The classic feed survives as a second tab, meaning no user loses access to it entirely.

How visible the opt-out is, and how many users take it, will shape how the company reads the test's results. Meta has not described the mechanics of the opt-out or where it appears in the app.

A U.S. decision still ahead

Alison said the company would explore bringing the experience to the U.S. next year. That leaves the Indian test as a proving ground for a change that could eventually affect Facebook's user base far beyond India.

The company frames the test as an experiment, not a permanent redesign, and has not committed to a timeline beyond the stated intention to look at the U.S. in the coming year.

What this means for users and advertisers

If a video-first opening screen becomes the norm on Facebook, the first thing users see stops being a ranked mix of friends, pages, and groups, and becomes a stream of short video. For people who use Facebook primarily to keep up with friends or follow pages, that could make the app feel like a different product; the second-tab feed offers a way back, but habits follow what greets you on open.

For advertisers and publishers, the shift could change where attention lands. Video inventory sitting on the first screen is likely to draw more viewing time than a feed slot scrolled past, though Meta has not released any data from the test to confirm that. Reported figures like 97% daily video viewing and 89% daily Reels use among Gen Z respondents suggest the company believes the audience is already there.

India's role as the first market is consistent with how Meta has rolled out short-video changes before — testing where video use is heavy, then deciding whether to bring the change to the U.S. the following year. That pattern suggests the U.S. decision will be made on evidence gathered in India, with the opt-out rate and engagement numbers likely among the inputs Meta weighs.

Nothing about the test is irreversible on Meta's side. The company has described it as an experiment, and the feed remains one tap away. But the direction is clear: Facebook is testing whether it can open as a video app first and a social feed second, in the market where it has the most users to learn from.